Forms and Regional Variations of North Myths

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Introduction

Scandinavian mythology, also known as Norse mythology refers to the pre-Christian religious beliefs of the Scandinavian people. The Scandinavian mythology originated from North-Germanic people and shows light into the ancient German mythology. This involves myths about ancient heroes, gods and goddesses, animals and also the creation and destruction of the universe.

It was developed over a period of many years and was transmitted and altered by medieval Christian historians. This mythology has a strong influence on modern literature and culture of the people.

Scandinavian mythologies are heroic stories of strength and war. Myths serve the purpose of being explanatory, esthetic or allegorical. It includes myths that explain the beginning of nature, man, the sun and planets, etc and also about the different customs. Esthetic myths deal with beauty and heroism and have a lot of interesting stories. Allegorical myths convey a moral. (The New Student’s Reference Work/Mythology).

So it is very important to preserve some of the works that help us understand the culture and lifestyle of certain parts of the world and its development into the present world. It is both socially and intellectually important and helps us understand certain values. Norse mythology is the best-preserved source that includes Germanic paganism, Anglo-Saxon and continental varieties. Myth exists in various forms and has regional variations and is considered as valuable information that should be preserved. (Myth, Poetry and Norse Religion).

Unfortunately, most of the best books are out of print and the only way left is to preserve the important ones we have.

Edda

It is believed that around the year 1220, a scholar from Iceland, Snorri Sturluson created the famous work Edda. It is also known as Prose Edda and is an Old Norse language script. Edda is one of the most important works done on the old Scandinavian religion. Eddic poetry is rhythmic and alliterative, resembling old English poetry or mythical, about heroic legend. It also includes patriotic works, related to contemporary history. Some of the stories in the Edda are dated several hundred years before the book was written. This shows that most of the stories were orally transmitted and preserved.

In order to understand Norse religion, literature and history, we have to have a fair idea of the stories and poetry works. Edda mainly represents how Norse poets perceived myth and their god Odinn and has a great influence on their cultural heritage. (Myth, Poetry and Norse Religion).

The mythologies have highly influenced literature, culture and modern fiction. Being one of the most important sources of information about Scandinavian mythology, the Edda by Snorri is an inevitable work.

Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson

There is also Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson who believed that the Pre Christian deities were men and women and not devils. This deals with the history of Norwegian kings that began with legendary materials in Ynglinga Saga and then moves to early medieval Scandinavian history. (Snorri Sturluson).

It is believed that Snorri is known for inculcating the theory that mythological gods first started as human war leaders and kings on their funeral sites. Later these dead kinds or leaders were called whenever the soldiers went to war, or faced any major difficulties. Thus from a human status, these kings assumed godly status. It is also believed that instead of the wars being fought between humans, they were fought between the king gods, and it is as though one god had defecated the other in battle.

Poetic Edda, By Lee M. Hollander

Poetic Edda or Elder Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems and is an important source of Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends. It is a collection of poems from Icelandic medieval manuscript Codex Regius. It includes poems about the construction and destruction of the universe, about gods, legends about heroes and heroines etc. Poetic Edda was written about 50 years after the Edda. It is a collection of 29 poems, 11 about German deities and the rest about legends. Most of the poems have a pre-Christian context. This poem remains an important source and is the closest we can get to the pre-Christian world. It tells us what pre-Christian religion actually was and how it worked. [Gods and worshippers] So Poetic Edda is another work that needs to be preserved.

Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, by H. R. Ellis Davidson

This is an excellent book written in the year 1964 that includes some of the Scandinavian mythologies. It has some of the most interesting stories, involving different creatures and mythical characters.

One of the most interesting stories revolves around a mighty tree at the center of the earth, called Yggdrasill, which had its branches stretched over heaven and earth.

The tree made the link connecting the different worlds. It deals with the creation of the universe, the different worlds, gods and their roles etc. the stories are mythical and very interesting. It teaches about wisdom and power, about love and sacrifice. It is an important work that needs to be passed on to the future generations.

Viking age Iceland, by Jesse L Byock

A Viking refers to Scandinavian explorers, warriors, merchants and pirates who raided and colonized parts of Europe. The period of expansion of the Vikings is called the Viking age and makes up a major part of the history of Scandinavia, Britain, Ireland and Europe in general.

The author is the Director of Norse Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. Viking age Iceland is an engaging, multi-disciplinary work that relates to historic facts and insights into the popular sagas. This book will be interesting for the general reader as well as the specialist. It throws light into the society and culture and helps the reader understand the lifestyle of the people. The different illustrative maps are another fine feature of this book.

History before Christianity

Vikings did not write down their history before they were converted to Christianity. Their historical stories were passed on to generations, orally. These epic poems or sagas were about the famous kings and lords and their deeds. We have lost many of these sagas because not all were written down. Also, many of the original works were altered to suit Christian beliefs. If these works were preserved, it would have given us deeper knowledge and understanding of the different customs and practices that existed. About the people who ruled and the exact records of what happened and when. The original work would have been more accurate and reliable.

Different Languages and Culture

Indo-European culture gave rise to several languages, out of which roughly only 140 are presently preserved. Since the people were illiterate and did not preserve these languages in written form, we have lost most of these languages and cultures. Nearly half of today’s world population speaks an Indo-European language. It remains the most important problem of historical linguistics and also affects archeology and history as well. Even though it looks impossible to construct a language of the past, with no evidence about it, linguists have been able to reconstruct some of the languages. This is done by examining word roots shared by the existing languages. In this way, much of the language and culture can be reconstructed from shared words roots. (Myers).

In order to know more of the culture and lifestyle of the people and to frame their history, knowledge of their language is inevitable. If we can reconstruct these, it will be a turning point in the study of their culture and will be a highly useful source of information. So if a book existed on the language or if it can be reconstructed, it would be very useful.

Records that were Destroyed During Natural Calamities

Some of the natural calamities like floods, volcanoes, tidal quakes, etc have wiped out the culture that existed long back. Since most of the works were orally transmitted and the written works were limited and had very few copies, the sources once lost could not be taken back. Due to these reasons, we have lost many important works that would have been very helpful in understanding the culture, religion etc of the people.

Conclusion

In order to understand Scandinavian mythology, it is important to go through the different sources of these mythologies. Some of the works are not copied anymore and the only work remaining should be preserved to preserve the culture and literature. The little mythological data that is available could also be linked to the legends of heroes and kings, as well as celestial creatures. Clannish tribes and kings possessed high significance which is evident from available materials. It is probable that most legendary figured did live at that time and historians who studied Scandinavian mythology did make honest attempts to sieve facts from myths.

It is widely believed that the modern influence of these myths and legends do occur and many rituals that are done are based on such earlier and old-world legends about kings, soldiers and folklores.

One of the main aspects is that due to utter destruction of many works of yore, only few works are available which has been detailed above. The main difficulties facing historians has been to sift fact from fiction since they have been robustly interweaved by mythology and thus is really challenging. Moreover, the documents and books left unscathed need to be well gleaned to offer a glance at ancient Scandinavian mythology.

Works Cited

Myers, Peter. Jared Diamond on the Indo-European Expansion. 2002. Web.
Myth, Poetry and Norse Religion. The Rune Gild. 2009.
Snorri sturluson. Nation Master. 2005.
The New Student’s Reference Work/Mythology. Wikisource. 2007. Web.

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